2022 CJ Cup odds: Rory McIlroy returns to PGA Tour as betting favorite

Rory McIroy hits drive during 2022 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship

Rory McIlroy heads into his first PGA Tour event of the season as the betting favorite.

Oisin Keniry/Getty Images

This week’s 2022 CJ Cup in South Carolina features a star-studded field of proven PGA Tour winners, and according to the CJ Cup betting odds via BetMGM, Rory McIlroy leads the way as the betting favorite. Here’s what you need to know.

2022 CJ Cup odds: This week’s favorites

After a stint playing overseas on the DP World Tour following his Tour Championship victory in August, McIlroy returns to the U.S. and the PGA Tour this week to defend his title at the CJ Cup, and, appropriately, the reigning FedEx Cup champ is installed as the betting favorite at +750.

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But Rory isn’t the only star player teeing it up this week in South Carolina, far from it. The CJ Cup field features three 2022 majors winners — Justin Thomas (+1400), Scottie Scheffler (+1400) and Matt Fitzpatrick (+2200) — and three players who have already secured wins in the new season — Max Homa (+2500), Tom Kim (+2800) and Keegan Bradley (+3300).

Second place in odds-to-win belongs to Jon Rahm (+900), with other stars such as Jordan Spieth, Cameron Young, Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im also featured in the Top 15.

2022 CJ Cup odds: Long shot of the week

Kurt Kitayama had a breakthrough year on the PGA Tour last season. The 29-year-old Californian earned more than $2.5 million on the course in 2021-22 and finished T41 in the final FedEx Cup standings, just missing out on a spot in Tour Championship.

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In the 24 starts Kitayama made, he collected six top-25 finishes, among them a runner-up at the Scottish Open, and T2 at the Mexico Open and a third-place finish at the Honda Classic. He may have missed the cut at the Shriners, his first event of the new season, but he came back with a solid T29 at the Zozo, which included a stellar final-round 65 on Sunday.

Given his long odds-to-win at +10000, Kitayama gets the nod as our long shot of the week. Should you bet $100 on Kurt only to watch him pull off his first PGA Tour win in South Carolina, you’ll clear a cool $10,000.

You can see the top 15 in 2022 CJ Cup betting odds as of Monday afternoon below, or head over to BetMGM to see the full list of odds and bets for this week.

2022 CJ Cup betting odds (Top 15 and ties)

Rory McIlroy (+750)

Jon Rahm (+900)

Justin Thomas (+1400)

Scottie Scheffler (+1400)

Viktor Hovland (+2000)

Matt Fitzpatrick (+2200)

Sungjae im (+2200)

Max Homa (+2500)

Collin Morikawa (+2800)

Jordan Spieth (+2800)

Sam Burns (+2800)

Shane Lowry (+2800)

Tom Kim (+2800)

Cameron Young (+3000)

Hideki Matsuyama (+3300)

Keegan Bradley (+3300)

Tyrrell Hatton (+3300)

How to bet on the CJ Cup

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Kevin Cunningham

Kevin Cunningham

As managing producer for GOLF.com, Cunningham edits, writes and publishes stories on GOLF.com, and manages the brand’s e-newsletters, which reach more than 1.4 million subscribers each month. A former two-time intern, he also helps keep GOLF.com humming outside the news-breaking stories and service content provided by our reporters and writers, and works with the tech team in the development of new products and innovative ways to deliver an engaging site to our audience.